The Glass House
by svevijah
Summary: A series of drabbles and one shots starring the Crown Princess of Solaria.
1. Chapter 1

Hello guys! I haven't checked in Winx fandom in ages but the infos we have about the live action outraged me enough to come back lol. I think Stella's character could have been awesome, but many times would be sidelined in favour of Bloom ( like basically every other character after all ) so here is my interpretation of some things about her behaviour and a bit of backstory.

**BEFORE YOU READ:** what you will read here is not strictly canon, but rather canon divergent & canon compliant! Some parts have been rearranged and / or changed as to try and fill all the plot holes and things that didn't really make sense to me.

The sun never shone so bright on Solaria than in the day King Radius and Queen Luna announced their first daughter had finally seen the light. 

_Stella_.

Expectations were high and placed in those little fingers of hers, but it still didn't bother her, too busy staring at those rays with curious eyes as everybody would spin around her.

"Your Majesty, there were rumors about a rift in your marriage. Looking at your beautiful daughter it would seem hard to believe." a journalist asks during the King and Queen's first interview after their child's birth. Queen Luna flinched - it's almost imperceptible - and King Radius' gaze got lost for a second.

"Our family has been through a lot lately. Me and my brother's quarrels have severely endangered our mother's life, and this has brought a great deal of stress in our marriage. We love each other, and this is enough. Hopefully my mother, Queen Eliana, will quickly recover and meet our daughter."

Pride filled his words, making it enough for everybody to believe he was genuine. When his hand reached to his wife's, she clutched her daughter at her chest, giving a little nod at his words a warm smile to tie the whole act.

King Radius and Queen Luna's marriage was of convenience_ first_ and of love _second_. Everybody seemed to fail in seeing it, but it would have been cleared a couple years later, when she would tuck her daughter into bed – her husband too busy to be there, as always - and would whisper in her ear _"my dear Stella, you are the sun"_ before disappearing in chambers that definitely were not her husband's.

_"You are the sun, Stella."_ the princess would come to whisper herself staring at the mirror, staring at the dark, facing her fears and her grief. _You are the sun_.


	2. Chapter 2

Considering that Sky was engaged and tabloid sort of exists in the magic dimension, I find it quite hard for Stella ( a well known princess ) to have never seen him at least once... so here it is my take on it!

What I will do with Stella and Sky is basically pull a "Marlene and James" and make them related. Their relation comes from Prince Celsius marrying a woman from Queen Samara's family.

Sky and Stella are something like second cousins once removed, but let's not indulge in such complicated structures lol

"But what if I go away and the baby arrives home?" it was a legit question for the princess, holding all that worry in her heart. Her mother smiled and ruffled her hair softly.

"Worry not dearest, _baby_ won't come until next couple of months." The queen reassured her child. "Now, what have I told you about your summer trip?" she asked in a stern tone, her hands placed on her hips and a frown on her face.

"Bow before the King and Queen, tell them that the King and Queen of Solaria send their regards." she answered diligently, her stance straightening as she spoke, as if somehow it could help her look anything older than six.

"Exactly. Please keep it in mind and don't forget to say it, it's very important." silence quickly filled the room and her mother checked her bag one last time before handing her a gift - something for Prince Sky, the King and Queen's only child. Stella didn't know much about him, only that she was supposed to _refer to him as her cousin, thanks to her uncle._

The idea to have someone her age to play with made Stella happy, since the castle would feel a bit lonely at times. Still, living on different planets remained annoying to her. As she walked outside, Stella couldn't help but wonder what Eraklyon would have looked like, or if its royal family was anything like hers. Once she was here, her heart sunk in seeing how differently Queen Samara looked at her husband than her mother woul do with her father, how Prince Sky seemed happier than she'd usually do.

Nonetheless, Stella bowed before them, and told them that Solaria's royal family sent their regards, gave Sky his gift and called him cousin as her mother instructed. He didn't bother to keep the same respect to her, but seemed to like the little sword that was gifted to him, and that was enough.

"Do you want to fight with swords?" Sky suddenly asked one day, when it was quite hot outside and Stella was longing to bathe in the sun like she used to do at home.

"I don't know how to fight with swords."

"I can teach you!" he said excitedly, betraying for once his usual unbothered demeanour. As Sky brushed away a strand of blond hair from his face, Stella shrugged at his offer.

"I'm not super good already but I train everyday with my best friend, and one day I'll be the _goodest_." Sky's confidence and crooked smile made Stella wonder if perhaps finding a hobby would something she'd have to do once back home.

"Is your best friend coming too?"

"No, but my mum says Diaspro is coming to visit in two days." his tone suddenly dropped as he mentioned the name, but Stella didn't ask out of politeness, betraying for once her nosy nature. Only years later, she'd come to be as excited as her cousin in having Diaspro in her life.


	3. Chapter 3

Hey guys. With this OS I tried to explore a little how comes that Stella is such a shopping addict. The show presents her as a girl with a very big budget and willing to spend it on everything she likes, so yeah, I thought maybe there could have been a little backstory about it.

**WARNINGS:** at the beginning there's a hint to miscarriage, and by the end it is implied the death of a minor background character.

When a child loses a parent, they become an orphan. When a parent loses one of their children, they still are a parent, even if sometimes it's hard to remember.

Family life had never been easy, and after the King and Queen's loss, it seemed to have become even more difficult. King Radius would bury himself in work, laws, and meetings; Queen Luna's main concern would be staring at the half-finished painting on the wall of what was supposed to be Stella's sibling's nursery.

Stella never got to see that room herrself aside from picking little glances every now and then, when her mother would be too absent minded to notice the door was ajar. The only thing she had realised from the four years that had passed, was that the _'what ifs'_ and _'if onlys'_ were tearing her family apart, and there was nothing she could do about it.

"What are you doing dear?" Queen Eliana asked one day, voice low and tired from that illness she never quite recovered from. Stella looked up to her, in awe: the woman had outlived two husbands, pointless arguments for power, the birth of a granddaughter and the death of another - all of this as graciously as possible.

"Just drawing while waiting for daddy to finish in his office."

"Are you going out for a walk?"

"Yes. You can come too if you want."

"Maybe another time." she declared with a small smile, except that 'another time' never came, and this days Stella still regrets not having spent more time with the former queen when she could have.

"You seem a little blue dear, are you alright?" the queen's tone seemed genuinely worried, and it set Stella off for a second, unused to hear someone expressing concern for her wellbeing in a long time.

"Mum and dad fight all the time. I just wish I could use a magic spell." she said and continued her drawing, and the queen let out a soft laugh, somehow finding her granddaughter's statement both a little too mature and a little too childish for a ten year old.

"You know what I do when I am sad?" she asked in a whisper, as if not wanting to know the castle staff her secret. "I buy a new dress."

And so it begun. _A dress for every heartbreak_, and suddenly Stella's closet was not enough to contain her clothes. Every fight during dinner, a new set of lipsticks. Every time her mother would sneak out to meet with the man she'd fallen for, a new pair of shoes.

Stella's friends call her crazy, _shopping obsessed_. Maybe they're right, maybe it's not healthy. Whatever - whoever said money doesn't buy happiness clearly didn't have as many credit cards as she does.


	4. Chapter 4

The show implies that Stella and Brandon ( as Sky ) knew each other even before the events of the series. Since I changed Stella's relation to ( real ) Sky, I thought I could even play around with the age when she met Brandon for the first time.

Hope you like it!

"You're supposed to get my bags as well!"

"Dì, cut him some slack, it's his first actual assigment." Sky's voice replied back followed by a tired sigh. "You're doing great by the way." he quickly added looking at the brunette at his right.

"But we're a couple!" Diaspro cried out as the prince began walking his way to Solaria's castle.

"But he's my squire!" he cried back, definitely letting out too much his enjoyment about the whole situation.

"Can't she just wait? I'll get hers too." the brunette whispered, and Sky rolled his eyes dramatically. "You know how she is, Brandon. She'll come around."

Brandon's eyes narrowed, but kept on carrying all the bags he could hold nonetheless. Truth be told, he felt a little bad for both of them: Diaspro was basically born to be Sky's wife, her whole world revolved around him - on the other hand, Sky was curious enough to wonder how long he could have pushed before she'd break the engagement and if that was just what his future had to offer.

"You should go easier on her, Sky." Brandon continued, quickly biting his tongue at the slip up. "Your Majesty."

Sky gave him a knowing look, not really paying attention to the correction but carrying on the conversation. "Yeah, thanks Casanova, I really needed your opinion on the matter, too."

"We've known each other enough by now to be sure you need to hear my voice of reason." Brandon settled, and before Sky could say something else, he nodded towards the main entrance. "Who's that?"

Sky frowned in confusion, looked at the same direction, and finally his face relaxed. "Dude, that's Stella." he explained matter of factly. Brandon didn't seem to pick up. "That's what happens for ditching me every time I've got her and Diaspro over."

"So... I guess the birthday we're attending is hers?"

"Yeah but she told me that she'd invite a guy from her class, so don't get your hopes up." Sky joked. "She's way more tolerable than Dì, so you're definitely gonna love her."

"Thank you for being here, I appreciate it." Stella said to Eraklyon's King and Queen in a polite tone as she took their gift and gently placed it near the pile of gifts already brought by other guests.

Her parents made her thirteenth birthday a great deal, yet she wasn't even that eager to celebrate. Her mum took her out to pick a nice dress, and her dad didn't bother to check the price of all the weird extravaganzas she had come up with in the hope the party would have been cancelled.

"Hey Stel, happy birthday!" Sky stepped ahead, arms wide open to pull her in a hug. Much to her disbelief, Sky looked nothing like he did the summer before: he definitely was a foot taller than her, and his hair was longer enough to be tied in a intricated bun of which Stella wasn't sure Queen Samara approved of. After a few seconds, Diaspro joined in with a screech and an overexaggerated clap of her hands, killing the whole familiar vibe.

"Can I talk to you alone?" Sky whispered as he pulled away, and despite her concern, Stella nodded without a word. "Oh by the way, this is Brandon."

Sky's sudden introduction startled Brandon, making him wake from his apparent state of trance. Shaking his head lightly, he gave Sky a side look and promptly went down on one knee, suddenly finding the carpet much more interesting. "Good morning Your Majesty, happy birthday." he said politely.

"Sky wrote me so much about you, it's good to finally see you in person."

"Yeah wait ten minutes with those two in the same room and you'll change your mind." Diaspro chimed in, but Stella didn't pay much attention to her. "If you'll excuse me, I'll have a few words with my dear cousin now."

"So, what's bugging you so much it can't wait past my birthday?" Stella began, arms raised dramatically in the air as the doors closed behind her.

"They dropped it." Sky replied, anxiety filling his words as he began fidgeting with the hem of his shirt.

"Dropped what?"

"We're together now. Like, officially, with no way out." he explained. Stella raised a brow in annoyance - Sky and Diaspro had been boyfriend and girlfriend before they were even born, why is he realizing it just now?

"So we've been planning my wedding for years with you as the best man, but you're still the first to get married? Shame."

"Can you be serious for a second?"

"I am. Call it off if you hate her so much." she offered with a shrug of her shoulders. "It's your life after all. Maybe she can't stand you either. Imagine the irony!"

As much fun as it was however, Stella knew perfectly well that Diaspro loved Sky and pretty mouch thought to be in a fairytale. Too bad thw other side was a nightmare according to her cousin.

"What would you do?"

"That's not my place to say."

"Just answer."

"I'd wait long enough to get away from this place and call it off real quick." she remarked without missing a beat.

"How long?"

"You still planning to go to Red Fountain?" she asked, and Sky nodded proudly. "Then that long I guees." she affirmed. "And with this much, I rest my case."

Hearing her words, Sky snorted loudly. "Changing subject, where's this Robby guy you talked my ear off about?"

"He said he'd come only if Kimberly would be here too, but I'm working on it."

Sky's brow raised exaggeratedly, and his gaze moved down to thw garden, where Brandon was kicking small rocks left and right, clearly bored to death. "If it turns out a disaster, just like my love life, you can dance with Brandon. It would be the highlight of his first assigment, can you imagine?"

Rolling her eyes, Stella brushed his question off, sitting by the other side of thw window. Sure, Brandon was cute, and according to Sky also a nice a guy - still, her birthday was already a bit of a circus, adding a dance with a nobody really wasn't the plan.

"He's cute!"

"Why don't you marry him if he's such a perfect guy?"

"Are you kidding me?" Sky exclaimed in an offended tone. "I would marry him over Diaspro in a heartbeat."

On second thinking, she had to think about the possibility of her spell tragically backfire at her and ruin her nonexistent love life. So, when Robby preferred spending the night at Kimberly's and hold her hand until she'd feel better, she wasn't even that much surprised. Only slightly disappointed in herself for what mattered.

When Brandon found her sitting cross legged in the hallway, a trail of dresses, shoes and other random beauty items left before her bedroom door, his first istinct was to go the other direction - he had been around Diaspro long enough to know that the process that thakes girls to eventually look 'super pretty' was not of his interest, and neither were the tantrums they'd throw.

"No - I get it, it's fine. Tell her I say hi and I hope she'll heal soon." Stella let out in a whisper, a loud sigh as she closed the call.

Standing behind the corner, Brandon debated whether talk to her or not - damn his good heart, he eventually thought as he casually passed beside the dresses. "Sounds like trouble."

Stella's brows furrowed, then she tilted her head up, quickly fixing her glasses. "Yeah well, I deserved it."

"How so?" he asked as he slid down next to her, a smug grin hovering his lips. Stella could see why Sky liked his company and his friendship.

"I really wanted this boy to come to the party but I hurt the girl he likes in the process, so he won't come here tonight." she explained, tone filled with guilt. "I should be better than this."

Brandon stayes silent for a while, eyes squinted and gaze directed to the wall before them. "Slip ups happen to everybody Your Majesty. It all revolves around how you get up and act from that."

"I still did something bad though."

"Apologize and learn from your mistake then. Moping avout them being all cozy won't make you feel better, or better yourself for any matters."

"This party will be so stupid. My parents have been fighting about decorations all day long." she finally let out with a groan, her hand dramatically reaching to her face.

Brandon shrugged. "Then ditch it." he offered, although he wasn't actually sure his opinion was really helping the situation at all. He was just a squire after all, his presence would have passed unnoticed... but a princess? How do you even hide a princess in the first place? "What would you like to do Your Majesty?"

Stella's lips pursed tight. Nobody ever asked that kind of question, she'd usually follow her parents orders and try to be as umproblematic and perfect as possible. "I guess I could still go downstairs, get a slice of cake, have a slow dance or whatever." she said shrugging. "What would you like to do?"

Brandon's lips parted slightly, as he didn't really expect her to involve him in her thing. "Well, I should watch over Sky, so..."

"Ohw," Stella said biting her tongue right after. Of course he'd be working. "you're like his shadow or something, right?"

"I also make sure he's got his shoes tied well and tight." he remarked proudly.

"Oh come on, he still doesn't know how to tie his shoes?"

"Unbelievable, right?"

"I mean, I learned how to do that last year." she said jokingly, realizing only after how lame it actually sounded. Still, Brandon let out a breathy laugh. Whether he actually found the joke funny or not, Stella never asked.

( Only to find out years later that that right moment Brandon realised she wasn't that bad as people would say and he actually enjoyed her company more than Diaspro's, just as Sky said - unfortunately, he would come to realise that Stella wasn't 'one of the boys' only three years later )

"You know what?" he eventually said as he got up, lowering his hand for Stella to reach. "Sky's brobably somewhere arguing about dumb things with Diaspro, anyway. I don't think he'll see if I'm around or not for five minutes."

"We can crash their argument with cake and save him, too." she offered as she pushed all the stuff inside her room and closed the door.

"I like your mind Your Majesty."

"So did you two dance?" Sky asked, curiosity filling his words as he bit on his pancake in a very non royal way. Brandon rolled his eyes.

"That's none of your business."

"She seemed happy though, did you kiss her? Please say no."

"Why are you even asking then?"

"I don't know, I'm just curious to know if I can have a career as matchmaker or I should retire already!" he spat out, waving the fork in the air dramatically.

"We didn't kiss - like, seriously. She's cool though." he remarked honestly. "I wouldn't mind hanging out with you and her if she ever comes to Eraklyon sometime... and this is all I'll tell you about it."

Sky gave him a proud nod, trying and barely succeeding to hide the wide smile that was forming on his face. As he opened his mouth to ask his squire if by chance he got a crush on his cousins, Stella entered the room, glasses on her nose and hair all over the place.

Still, Brandon could swear to his sword he'd never seen the sun so upclose than that day.


	5. Chapter 5

Hello guys! Here I am with a new one shot, mostly brella centric.  
1) This is based before the series beginning, during Stella's and the Specialists first year. Amaryl makes an appearence too.  
2) I realised that I didn't really like how the first few drabbles were written, so I changed things around, hoping that reading will flow better ( they were really awful lol )

**WARNINGS:** underage drinking is mentioned. Also, there's a recurring mention of a flower shaped light drug.

Parties were so much different from the ones Stella was used to: ballrooms had been replaced by tiny dormitory rooms, big dresses and tux had been replaced by miniskirts and tiny crop tops, and almost every drink she's usually had at her homeland was now replaced by something that had been spiked enough to give her the biggest headache the morning after.

Stella hated the loneliness that came with being drunk, reason why she'd started dragging sky and Brandon around with her at any given moment – and while her cousin clearly seemed to enjoy himself in this new reality where he could put aside his royal persona for a night, his squire didn't seem too eager to be pulled into their chaos.

"Are freshmen even allowed in here?" the brunet was quick to ask as the two blonds eagerly made their way among the other students, his hand covering his eyes every time the purple lights would turn to their side of the room.

"Amaryl said that this party is open to everybody, so I guess it doesn't really matter." Stella remarked, golden eyes rolling as the light turned away, casting a shadow upon her features. Brandon's lips pursed tight as he bit down a snarky comment about this new girl Stella always talked about. He and sky had a talk about the matter, and they both thought she was no good for Stella – except that he'd always be the one to voice this opinion, and Stella was getting tired of it.

As the girls finally met, Stella was quick to hug Amaryl, a huge smile on her face contrasting the clearly fake pleased expression on the redhead's face. "...so good to see you made it! And you brought friends?" Amaryl said, and her voice seemed so far away as everybody around them was singing out loud a song neither Sky or Brandon could recognize. Stella's royal manners shone out as she introduced her cousin and his squire, a court smile on her face as she briefly explained her other two friends were probably around as well.

Amaryl liked Stella's bubbly personality around her, and most of all the fact that she'd always be quick to pay for anything, whether it was clothes or _something else_. On her part, Stella didn't mind paying for her friend - she'd got the money after all, and it was not like her parents cared enough to keep tabs of her shops.

"We should buy a couple flowers." a guy suddenly yelled as he passed down another round of shots. Stella was quite sure he said to be a junior at Red Fountain earlier, but he might as well be a senior to be honest. Her gaze darted away for a moment, falling on Sky, an empty bottle raised in the air and Riven and Timmy laughing at something he was saying. Brandon as per usual, was standing a couple steps behind, his gaze lazily trained on the prince before turning to look at Stella and shrug. The blonde mirrored him, a small smile on her face as she raised her shot glass and turned her attention back to the older students.

It was something she did for fun mostly. They'd give her drinks and pretend to care about her, and in return she'd give a little bit of attention, perhaps a kiss if she'd feel risky enough. At times she just pretended to listen while mentally checking that she had put everything in the bag she'll have to carry to her mom's place. Sure, having attention from older guys was cool and Amaryl really felt comfortable into giving them what they wanted, but then again Stella's attention had always been focused on one person… even if his attention was always elsewhere.

She didn't know how long it had been, but when they moved to the balcony to talk about where to buy these flowers, she could see her friends laying on the grass, Sky crying about his marriage with Diaspro, Timmy awkwardly trying to make him stop and Riven watching the scene with the same unfazed expression she had on her face. A couple feet away, Brandon was sitting by the lake focused to talk with a girl that Stella couldn't recognize because she'd forgotten her glasses ( and by forgotten, she hadn't put them on because according to Amaryl she looked cuter without them ) but he seemed calm, which was _good_ for once.

"YO, SOLARIS IS GONNA BUY US FLOWERS." the voice of the guy woke her from the trance, and Stella let out a breath she didn't even know she was holding. "Yeah, sure." she said absent minded, giving the guy her credit card. Another boy begun walking around with a paper and a pen, putting in a list all the names of the people who wanted these flower thingies. The girl next to Brandon quickly got up and signed the guy she wanted two.

What happened next was quite blurry in Stella's mind, as her only memory before blacking out was of her holding a flower shaped pill, downing it with a drink and relaxing as music and lights turned into one big mix. "Are you out of your mind?" she heard and it echoed in her head for a while before she could open her eyes and see it was Brandon, with an angry expression on his face and a scared tone of his voice to betray his anger. "It's the fifth time this month, what have you taken this time?" he kept asking, and for once Stella just wanted him to shut up.

According to _him_, she had a problem. According to _her_, he just didn't know how to have fun. "Why don't you just go snogging that girl you were with and let me be? You're not the boss of me." she let out harshly, head hung low as she tried to calm her heartbeat down. The brunet looked at her with a confused expression, his gaze darting around the room in search of something. "What are you talking about?"

"You know what I'm talking about." her tone got even more harsh if possible, her eyes narrowed into a hard look. "It's not your job to look after me, you get paid to look after sky. And judging by the scene he's caused outside you're also doing a shitty job."

"He'll get over it." he's quick to say, shoulder shrugging lightly as he helped her getting up, even though she was trying to get away from him and do it alone – even though she was being tremendously stubborn, and he didn't even get paid for it. "You on the other hand, are in serious troubles, _lady_."

Stella sighed in defeat. She knew he meant well, but she was also really not in the mood for his jokes. "And by the way I'm helping you because _here_ is where I want to be. Girl can wait." There was a bit of annoyance in his tone, but Stella couldn't figure out if it was because he liked the girl but his duty got in the way, or because he had figured the only way to take Stella away was to carry her on his shoulders or something.

"You should go party too, you know? Girl can't wait and if you use this excuse every time, trains will pass by but you'll be too busy fixing other people's problems."

"Drugs make you wiser, it seems."

"Nah, I was meaning to tell you this for a while actually. We're a dumpster fire, you should run away as fast as you can."

Brandon's gaze moved to her and then fell down to the floor, his features hardened at the thought of something he didn't share with Stella. "You're both my dumpster fire though, so there's not really any other place I would rather be." he said in a genuine tone, and his lips stretched into a smirk as he kept looking down. Golden hues focused on him, Stella's wish was only to look at him in his beautiful eyes, perhaps forget for a while why she even kept getting into this stupid situation every weekend.

"Brandon?" she asked, voice low and suddenly cracking. He finally looked up to her, giving a small nod as to let her know he was listening. "Don't ever give up on us." in which _us_ could mean many things: us as a three people friendship, us as in sky and her, us as in whatever unspoken thing was hovering on them lately and was keeping them apart than they usually were.

"Never."


End file.
